The Designs Of Change

~chapter 5~

It of course... took me a moment to realize what I was seeing. Harrison vensberk? What... most importantly, how?
I took out the book and unconsciously flipped through the entries. They were the same as they had always been, and I closed it and set it in front of me.
"Aure," copia said. "Is now really the time to be flipping through a journal?"
Crapes.
"uhm.... , no." I said finally. I had contemplated going right out and telling them what this 'journal' contained, but I stopped myself last minute. As much as I wanted help on my case, I didn't want to put any of them in danger, no matter how much I disliked caseus.
But... maybe... no, aure. There are already people after you. Divulging any information now, would just make them targets as well.
"Well then, you must be... surprised." copia said slowly.
Surprised was an understatement when a teen who had gone missing for seven weeks was alive and looking right at me. Now that I really looked, I could see red slashes across his skin, slightly bruised. His hair was also matted to his head. What has this boy been through?
"So then..." I said quietly. I had to come out with it. "What happened with the government agents? What did they do to you?"
Harrison widened his eyes momentarily at the mention of the agents, but they went back to normal not long after.
"Seven weeks ago, as you all all know, I went 'missing.'" he started. I nodded, and motioned for him to continue.
"That day, there were nine others other than me taken." he glanced at copia, who wore a serious expression. "There were these men- they took us and trapped us inside cars. I didn't hear much, but they were all... upset about something."
"They were upset about the one who got away. The two that got away." I said in a near whisper.
I stood up. "The people that took herbert and irah. Who's parent's attempts to send out a search party for them were shoved away by the police."
Here goes everything. Didn't I just promise myself not to say anything???
I shoved the journal in copia's direction. "Stupid of me, right? I might as well just force you to jump off a cliff with me if im seriously considering letting you read what's inside this."
Copia looked at her friend with a skeptical expression.
Harrison looked at me. "How did you know?" he asked suddenly.
"Well now it's imperative, seeing as we have a victim right here, I have no reason to hide anything, when you of all people deserve to know what's going on... One question, do any of you happen to have an ultraviolet flashlight? I can't seem to piece something together."

-
Not too long later, I sat over the open journal flipped to the middle, dangling ultraviolet flashlight over the pages. I was right. There was more to it. Several lines, in fact. very... odd lines I still couldn't figure out.
Copia and the two other boys looked closely at the lined paper. Caseus, sitting there with his stupid punchable face, harrison, looking like he saw me swallow an entire goat, and copia, mostly angry.
"Are you serious, aure? You had a journal from one of the victims, and you didn't tell me, so I could help you?"
"Hey, don't blame me if I don't want you to GET KILLED." I shot back at the infuriating woman.
"I didn't want any of you to get involved, even the annoying ones, because if you get involved you are going to become a target. And Im already one myself." I said, in an exasperated tone. The annoying part was directed at caseus. "This journal shows that whoever gets involved is going to be silenced."
"Ill have you know," copia said seriously, "that if I had known, I would have told you about the key rock."
I froze. What? What's a 'key rock?' it certainly sounds like something that needs a key. Wow. very intuitive, aure.
"What's a 'key rock?'" I echoed my thoughts. Something about key resignated with me.
Copia rolled her eyes and made a 'follow me' gesture. I gladly bounded to my feet and stuck the journal back in my bag. I contemplated for a moment, before shoving the ultraviolet flashlight into my bag as well. I would need it later. Plus, it was Caseus's, so that was another good reason to keep it. There were odd journal entries written in invisible ink that needed deciphering.

-

Gage park was big, and covered a fair swathe of topeka. It didn't have many dense groves of trees, but it was a well kept area of the city. so I for one, was very confused when Copia dragged me to a denser treeline at the bank of westlake in the park. Caseus walked along behind me with harrison, but I tried to ignore him. He just stood there. It's like he had no emotions. Or at least, he never showed them. Being a seventeen year old, I really should be wise and old, and know how to magically read faces. I was fairly good at reading faces and gestures, especially the angry ones that usually came from Copia. that girl could fume.
I was very confused when we came up to a large slab of flat rock hidden in the dense underbrush. Which in fact, had a hole in it. a... key shaped hole.
I guess the name "key rock" isn't so wrong now that I think about it.
"You sure you all want to be here to become targets?" I asked. They would be very stupid to say yes. Copia looked at me like I was stupid, Caseus just stared, and Harrison hesitated before nodding.
"They already caught me once. I can't return to my mom's house now either, because doing that would just be the same as walking into a cell. So the way my life is going right now, I have nothing less to lose."
"If you think im letting you jump into a pit of quicksand alone, your stupid, Aure. people are getting kidnapped, and there's no way im letting the government get anyone else after I saw Herrison knocking on my door in shambles." copia agreed..
I sighed at their stupidity, all the while walking up to the slab to examine it closer. Certainly is odd to find a stone like this in the middle of a seemingly normal park.
Why did I remember a seemingly important key?
I zipped down the front of my forest green coat, and fished the key out of an inside pocket. It was a stretch, but... then again, this key just felt reallllyyyy suspicious to me. And there was a convenient keyhole. So what was the worst that could happen?
So me being stupid, (as I am), I slid the key into the odd rock, and it turned.

~~~
Author:

Heya guys! Some updates on what's going on: I wont be posting for a bit because I have only written and revised up to chapter seven, and I also have school midterms to catch up on. I do hope you all enjoy how the story is going so far, but instead of posting once a day im lowering it to one or two times a week, if im not on writer's block. This story is planned to be forty five chapters or above, so I hope you will all hang on for the ride.
And don't forget to vote on the chapters!